The data-heavy website ranks neighborhoods, as defined by census tracts, based on poverty rates, percentage of vacant housing, educational attainment and rates of violent crime. The most recent rankings are based on 2012 data from the Census Bureau and FBI.

Coming in at No. 18 on the list is a west-side area of Rockford around State Street and Rockton Avenue that includes Fairgrounds Park.

At No. 5 is a large swath that stretches from high-crime areas along Kishwaukee Street and along Seventh Street north to State Street and west to the Rock River to encompass Midtown and part of downtown Rockford.

The neighborhood is in the heart of a new geopolicing district established this year by the Rockford Police Department designed to strengthen community policing and reduce crime, Assistant Deputy Chief Doug Pann said.

The data does not reflect the progress that police, the city and neighborhoods have made in fighting crime, Pann said.

“To look at 2012 data and bring that forth in a 2014 report and say it’s one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the country is misleading and doesn’t represent what is going on today,” Pann said. “It may represent what the crime data reflected two years ago, but certainly doesn’t recognize what’s going on today.”

Rockton Avenue and the State Street area had an estimated violent crime rate of 76.7 per 1,000 residents. The area that includes parts of Kishwaukee, State and Seventh streets had 89.7 violent crimes per 1,000 residents, according to the website.

Rockford’s violent crime tally fell by 8 percent to 2,083 in 2012, the most recent year for which FBI crime statistics are finalized. Violent crimes include homicide, aggravated assault, armed robbery and forcible rape.

But the rate of violent crime in Rockford remained high.

Rockford had 14 violent crimes per 1,000 residents, while the state average was 4.15 per 1,000 residents. A neighborhood in East St. Louis, Illinois, ranked No. 1 on the most dangerous list with a rate of 100.97 violent crimes per 1,000 residents.

Pann said police review crime data on a daily basis to deploy officers to where they are needed most in Rockford.

“I am sure if you ran this report based on 2014 numbers, you would not see this neighborhood pop up,” Pann said.